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Houston PD uses LeadsOnline photos to tie suspect to metal theft
Small batteries swiped from cable TV boxes throughout Houston, man arrested
By Stephen Dean
August 9, 2011
They were vanishing by the dozens throughout the Houston area. Little batteries that are placed inside Comcast cable TV boxes have been turning up missing for months on utility poles all over town, but Houston Police now think they have their man.
Officers assigned to HPD's Metal Theft Unit have noticed the small batteries turning up at scrap metal yards for months, but they weren't sure where the batteries were coming from.
Comcast had reported many batteries stolen, but officers say they could not positively identify whether the batteries turning up at scrap yards were actually theirs.
Now 58-year-old John Word is behind bars, accused of stealing 318 of those batteries over several months.
Comcast cable workers say each utility pole box had a single battery and thieves have realized they are fairly easy targets. No one pays attention to people hanging around utility poles, and when someone is seen opening one of the boxes, most people don't really know what those boxes are for anyway.
But each battery contains lead and that's getting $5 per pound at scrap metal businesses, so stealing hundreds would put a lot of cash in someone's pocket.
Police say they've been noticing dozens of similar looking, smaller batteries showing up at scrap yards as they check their LeadsOnline computer database.
That law enforcement database keeps track of who is selling what at pawn shops and scrap yards. Sellers of certain items are required to provide their driver's license, a fingerprint, and their license plate on the car they're driving. Then photos are taken of the stuff they're selling.
Load after load of these batteries turned up tied to Word's name, according to police. So HPD started asking Comcast for specifics about the batteries that have been turning up missing all over town. Once Comcast started positively identifying the batteries that kept turning up in those LeadsOnline photos tied to Word, he was hauled in for questioning and then arrested on a felony charge.
HPD says the value of the stolen batteries is around $40,000.
Word was jailed this week on a $20,000 bond and he's due in the 182nd Harris County District Court later this week.
Comcast spokesman Michael Bybee said when most of the batteries were stolen, it did not lead to the cable TV going out for nearby customers. He said the batteries serve as back-up should the power go out in the area. He said customers wouldn't be impacted unless there was a commercial power outage in the area where the batteries had been stripped from the poles.
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